Woodside Petroleum fell 1.6 percent after releasing first-half earnings on Wednesday that showed underlying profit fell by 1.5 percent to $852 million from a year earlier.

South Korea's benchmark Kospi index led losses in the region with a loss of 1.6 percent to 1,867. Bucking the trend were shares of Kia Motors, up 2.1 percent despite news that workers were planning to stage a partial strike on Wednesday. The carmaker's Cadenza model debuted in second place on Consumer Report's magazine's list of top large sedans on Tuesday.